A look back at the Daryl Patton era at Fayetteville

[DerekOxford]

The Daryl Patton era (Feb. 2003—May 2016)

When Daryl Patton arrived in Fayetteville in the winter of 2003, he inherited a program that was mediocre at best and woefully underachieving at worst.

Mike Adams, who has been at Farmington since he resigned at Fayetteville, had left Patton a team that had gone 6-4 the year before in the old AAAAA-West and had missed the playoffs.

That team had Wallace Spearmon (future Olympian), Blake Parker (future MLB hurler), as well as returnees like Woody Wilson and Cedric Logan that would play key roles on Patton's first team.

2003: Sizzle, then fizzle

The 2003 Bulldogs were expected to compete for a playoff spot, but weren't expected to unseat a Fort Smith Southside (defending state champion) or a Springdale (coached by Gus Malzahn).

But FHS shocked everyone by starting 9-0 and vaulting to the No. 1 spot by beating Springdale for the first time since 1999 and then routing Southside 42-9 on Halloween.

Unfortunately, Wilson injured his ankle late in the Rebel beatdown and was unavailable the next week against Bentonville, and FHS lost 33-0 to cost itself a chance at its first outright league title in 40 years.

The Bulldogs still got a No. 1 seed, although it meant the Pine Bluff Zebras were coming to town. They and their fantastic halftime band left Washington County with a 23-20 first round playoff victory and left FHS to lick its wounds.

2004: A step back

Patton's second season saw him graduate Wilson, who signed with North Texas, as well as Logan, who signed with Arkansas.

The quarterback ended up being senior Hayden Sherman, who inherited the job that was passed to him from Wilson.

A young team anchored by a strong linebacking corps and a pair of talented backs (Brent Phillips & Renardo Mahone) managed to make the playoffs, but fell to eventual state champion LR Central, 30-0.

2005: First playoff success

Fayetteville entered Patton's third season with renewed confidence. They used a two-quarterback system of senior Houston Nutt III (son of the former Arkansas coach) and junior Dallas McCutcheon, a transfer from Rogers High.

Behind the addition of talented sophomore standout Gionni Harris and a bruising rushing attack of Phillips & Mahone, the team finished 8-2 and won Patton's first playoff game, over Watson Chapel at home.

That led them to the quarterfinals and West Memphis, and the Purple Dogs dropped a 42-35 shootout on the road.

2006: Close, but no cigar

The first year of the 7A classification saw Fayetteville compete for a league title, but dropped critical games to Rogers and Bentonville in the regular season and had to win a game at Bryant to get to the semifinals and a rematch with the Mounties.

A dream season for the Mounties continued, as FHS blew an early 14-0 lead and let the conference champions come back to post a 35-26 victory.

Rogers High would eventually lose the state championship to Southside, who Fayetteville easily disposed of on its Homecoming.

2007: First state championship

It was very unlikely that Fayetteville was going to win the state championship in 2007. The team entered the playoffs as the fourth seed from the 7A West and was 6-3-1.

However, FHS won at Bryant for the second consecutive year, then went up to Bentonville and avenged a regular season defeat with a victory and secured a trip to War Memorial Stadium to play Har-Ber.

That game was also avenging a regular season defeat, and behind a warrior's effort from Cody Hammer, the school won its first state title, 28-7.

2008: Enter Brandon Allen

Fayetteville had been able to lean on at least a junior or senior QB every year under Patton until 2008, when sophomore Brandon Allen was given the controls.

There were obvious growing pains, as the team overall had been hit hard by graduation. The team still managed to sneak in the playoffs, before losing to Little Rock Catholic in the first round, which was the first opening round exit for Patton since 2004.

2009: Improvement for Allen

Allen began to improve tremendously in his junior season, but the defense was less than stellar.

The team did enough to host a first round playoff game and lost on a Hail Mary heave to Conway. It was a fitting end to a wacky season, which saw Fayetteville and Springdale have to move their rivalry game to Saturday after Springdale crashed its team bus on the way back from a pre game meal.

2010: Back to Little Rock

Everything came together in 2010, as the Purple Dogs found a way to get back to War Memorial Stadium in early December.

Allen, who by now had blossomed into a four-star quarterback, didn't throw an interception in the regular season and really shined in the playoffs in wins at West Memphis and Southside.

FHS would lose the state championship game to a loaded Bentonville team, 49-28, but the foundation had been laid for the next two seasons.

2011: Second state title

Most folks were picking Bentonville to repeat as state champion before the 2011 season, and Bentonville didn't really do anything to change that belief throughout the season.

Fayetteville was on a collision course to face them again, however, behind Brandon's little brother Austin Allen, who had a terrific junior season at quarterback.

In the state championship game, the Purple Dogs hit the Tigers with some trickery on a two-point conversion to win the game and brought home their second 7A state championship.

2012: Repeat

With Allen and teammates Brooks Ellis and Alex Brignoni back, as well as transfer Jordan Dennis joining FHS, there was no reason to believe it wouldn't repeat as champs.

All signs pointed to another Fayetteville-Bentonville rematch, and even though Bentonville got FHS again in the regular season, the Purple Dogs won the game that mattered in Little Rock, 31-20, for its third state title.

2013: Disappointing finish

For the first time since 2007, FHS didn't have an Allen as the signal caller. Senior Mitch Marshall assumed the role and led the Purple Dogs to a 8-0 start, but then they ran into Har-Ber and Bentonville and closed the season with two defeats.

In the first round playoff game at Harmon Field, under nasty conditions, the Little Rock Central Tigers pulled off the upset and ended a FHS season in the opening round for the first time since 2009.

2014: Hello, Taylor Powell

Patton realized he had his fourth D1 quarterback on his roster in 2014, when Taylor Powell took over the reins.

The sophomore was fantastic and led Fayetteville all the way to the state title game before falling to Bentonville in a hard-fought battle.

Seniors Dre Greenlaw and CJ (Cheyenne) O'Grady played pivotal roles in getting FHS back to War Memorial as well and signed with Arkansas that spring.

2015: State champs, again

One of the most prolific offenses in the state, Fayetteville knew it had all the pieces needed for not only a return trip to Little Rock but that it would be the favorite to win.

Despite losing to Har-Ber and Bentonville in the regular season, a familiar theme, FHS followed the same blueprint that had won it its first state title back in 2007 and defeated Bentonville in the semifinals on the road and then beat Har-Ber by the same score as 2007 to win the school's fourth title.

Fuller Chandler threw five interceptions and Joey Savin was the recipient of three of them, earning MVP honors.

2016: Now what?

Of course, in May, Patton unexpectedly resigned out of the blue. It was found out later that it was because of some pretty serious personal misconduct, and a humbled man is now the head coach at Bauxite.

Meanwhile, where does Fayetteville go from here? The team that Patton had returning was slated to win a state title. Will they repeat and win the school's fifth championship? We'll see.

[AirWarren]

Great read. Thanks for that.

[Maynard G Krebs]

Video at 6:00